Setting up an electronic shopfront can be a prohibitively expense activity, or at least it used to be.

The folks over at Chat Find have launched a new mobile-commerce (m-commerce) app that will allow anybody offering a service or product to set up an electronic shop front.

It works by detecting a user’s location and then populates that users feed with posts from businesses in a 24km radius.

Users can then either make a purchase from within the app or go to the store to see a product. In terms of services (and products as well) Chat Find allows buyers and sellers to chat either in-app or via email. It seems frighteningly convenient.

“Chat Find is designed to promote and grow local economies by connecting customers with businesses in their communities, giving them the power of m-commerce,” Chat Find’s chief executive officer Raymond Wynne said in a statement.

Speaking from experience, a number of smaller stores around me often have better deals than bigger e-commerce websites and with Chat Find it would be easier for me to find those deals rather than having to drive to each individual store.

If that isn’t temptation enough, Wynne says that running promotions through the app is free.

“Most sites now require spend in order for business pages to appear on their customers’ feeds. We saw the opportunity to develop something that had both business and consumer interests in mind. We created an appropriate space for promotion without irritating consumers, that functions like a community noticeboard on your mobile,” the CEO explained.

You can check out the Chat Find app for yourself whether you’re on Android or a device using iOS.

[Image – CC BY 2.0 Polycart]